A Golden Boy's guide to the Bush-Kerry contest
Nobody fits the Washington "been there, done that" profile more than ABC's This Week host George Stephanopoulos, former President Clinton 's Boy Wonder. So who better to tell us what to look for in the presidential race? George uses a Clinton trick to highlight the seven campaign "mantras": the old signs his and James Carville 's war room used, like "It's the economy, stupid!" George tells us, "These are the seven signs that I would put up in a newsroom." The first says "Divide and conquer," a reference to the obviously politically divided nation. No. 2: "Safety first." That means national security and terrorism will be the top issues. No. 3: "It's Iraq, stupid." But since Sen. John Kerry and President Bush sound similar on Iraq, he thinks antiwar candidate Ralph Nader could do well here. No. 4: "Forget history." This campaign will be different from others, he says, and voters will decide late. No. 5: "Don't forget healthcare." No. 6: "Catholics count." His hint to Kerry: "The swing vote is white Catholics." No. 7: "Focus on Ohio," and to win it, Kerry should pick a midwestern veep.
Ralph's cut-and-paste campaign
Independent presidential candidate Ralph Nader doesn't mind letting you know that he knows a lot about a lot. But it's not ego that makes him a motor mouth on everything from corporate greed to ads on baseball uniforms. He works at being smart and up-to-date, spending part of the day at his desk with sharp scissors and lots of newspaper investigative reports on what interests--and worries--him. "I take these articles seriously," says Nader. "I add them up, and I clip them up, and I put them in patterns." So frustration is only natural when political reporters from those same papers he clips ask him, "Hey, what's so bad that you want to run for president?" Nader says, "It just seems like when political reporters start reporting, they forget about what their own reports have been conveying." Unfortunately, he's too right. But at least Nader's not mean about it when scolding the press. In fact, he's downright sympathetic. "Now I understand when there are so many good articles that come out that you can't keep them all in mind," he says. "But if you got them all in front of you on a big table . . . ."
Saving Jessica II?
Is there a Saving Jessica Lynch sequel in the works? That was the buzz after Ben Affleck was spotted passing his card and phone number to the former Iraqi war prisoner. It came during the annual White House press dinner. Our spies noted that only Lynch got that special attention.
The Daddy deferment
Look for Kerry campaign surrogates to step up attacks on Vice President Dick Cheney 's five Vietnam War deferments, a strategy that began last week when Teresa Heinz Kerry called the veep unpatriotic. Veterans for Kerry, a campaign- support group, is using humor to hit Cheney in suggesting that he had a child to duck the war. "I never knew Cheney was the first hippie," said one. "He made love so he didn't have to make war."
advertisement
